11900 block of Old US Highway 50

(KMOV) – Three Centralia residents have been charged following the joint efforts of several police departments into a rash of storage unit burglaries across Clinton County.

Toby Gibson, 35, Heather Phillips, 38, and Cheryl Phillips, 39, were each charged Tuesday with burglary by the St. Clair County State’s Attorney Brendan Kelly’s office.

On Thursday, October 31, a St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department Deputy was called to the 11900 block of Old US Highway 50 in the unincorporated area of Trenton in response to a burglary of storage units.

According to authorities, the victim discovered the locks to both of his rented storage units cut and missing.

The victim reported multiple items missing from the two storage units, with a value of $5,400.

According to authorities, five additional storage unit locks had been cut and were missing.However, no items were reported missing.

Following the incident, investigators with the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department discovered Illinois Police Chief Jeff Wuebbles was investigating a similar incident in Germantown and had developed a suspect.

Due to the close proximity of the burglaries, both departments combined their investigative efforts and determined the relation between the two crimes.

Furthermore, they were able to learn of two additional suspects living in Centralia, Illinois.

According to authorities, the suspects were taken into custody and the stolen items were recovered.

Gibson’s bond was set at $50,000.

Bond for both Heather Phillips and Cheryl Phillips was set at $25,000.

All three suspects are currently housed in the Clinton County Jail.

Sheriff Richard Watson praised the joint working relationship between the Clinton County Sheriff’s Department, Germantown Police Department, Centralia Police Department and the Department’s Investigation Section. It was truly a “Team” effort in seeking justice for these victims.